Posts Tagged ‘WOD’

If I had to pick, I’d say the Clean is my favorite lift. There’s something about trying to pick up a HEAVY weight off the ground, and somehow stand with it on your shoulders… that is really fun for me!

For a great video on how to learn to Clean CORRECTLY 🙂 check out Glenn Pendlay of California Strength breaking it down.

 

Anyways, back to me being a nerd for Cleans. At one of the Seminars I’ve attended to try and become a better competitive exerciser, I got to meet Spencer Arnold.

Spencer is an Olympic Weight lifter who lifts in the 69 kilo weight class. That means he weighs NO MORE THAN 152 pounds on the day of his competitions. 152 pounds. That said, here he is Cleaning 332.898 pounds at the American Open this year. I did not type that wrong. Almost 333 pounds. At a body weight of less than 152 pounds. Cool.

 

Ok, so now you know he can lift.

On his blog, he shared an article with a great exercise for stabilizing the standing portion of the Front Squat half of the Clean. It’s called the “Front Squat Recovery Exercise”. Basically, it helps to ensure that the core is strong at the bottom, and that the torso is vertical (stacked over the hips) in order to provide a stable column to stand with the bar. Read his description, and then check out the video at the bottom of the post.

Looking for supplemental drills to improve your Olympic Weightlifting? (I’m hope the answer to that is YES, by the way!) Well, there’s one.

Link to his post with the Front Squat Recovery Exercise

Keep tuned into Spencer’s blog, too. He posts tons of great content, and definitely knows his stuff.

Thoughts on the drill? Let me hear it, people!

Alright, the second-to-last workout of the 2013 CrossFit Games Open, WOD 13.4, has been released!

Here is the workout listed below, pasted right from the CrossFit Games Website.
Workout 13.4
7 minute AMRAP of:
3 Clean and jerk
3 Toes-to-bar
6 Clean and jerk
6 Toes-to-bar
9 Clean and jerk
9 Toes-to-bar
12 Clean and jerk
12 Toes-to-bar
15 Clean and jerk
15 Toes-to-bar
18 Clean and jerk
18 Toes-to-bar…
This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 18, go on to 21. If you complete 21, go on to 24, etc.”

The gist of my advice is this:
Ground to Overheads, in my opinion should all be done as Power Cleans, followed by a quick push jerk. (At no point should an athlete rely on push press v/s push jerks because of the significantly larger amount of strain that’s put on the shoulders.)
Toes-to-bar should be completed in a fashion where that athlete is never approaching failure. That means that if 8 is the max number of reps possible at once, hop down at 4, shake it out, and get right back on that bar.
For most people, once Toes-to-bar grip strength goes, the no-reps start coming out. Don’t get to that point.
The final ~90 seconds or so is when the gloves come off, and you just go.

This workout is fun. Just take your reps at a pace that is comfortable for YOU! Don’t be psyched out by people who come out swinging (and believe me, they will exist).
Breathe, breathe, breathe, and efficient transitions.

Any questions, let me hear ’em!

Good luck, friends.

They finally pushed the workouts out to 20 minutes in duration! Holy cow, this one was a gasser. With 2 of 3 exercises requiring a solid grip, that was the first thing to go in this one. Check out the video below from CFHQ, complete with a workout Demo, and let me know what you guys (who have tried it) thought.

I did it yesterday for the first time, and will do it again on Saturday. CrossFit Lakewood athletes continue to do incredible things with these workouts, and there was no shortage of that yesterday. A post that I will write soon is going to share my “Moment of the Day”, courtesy of Holly!

Here’s the explanation:

Here’s the demo:

HQ released the next workout of the 2011 CrossFit Games Open, and a lot of people in the CrossFit Community let out a collective groan.

Without further ado, here is Workout 11.4:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
60 Bar-facing burpees / 30 Overhead squats (120lbs / 90lbs) / 10 Muscle-ups

For those of you who may be wondering what a Muscle-Up is, it’s a movement done primarily on gymnastics rings that consists of a pull-up transitioning into a dip! The video here will show you exactly what it looks like and give some pointers!

Achieving the Muscle-up from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.

In my opinion, it’s going to be a lot like the last workout where some people simply won’t be able to complete parts of it. During the first two workouts, most people were able to handle the weight and reps in some form or another, so the differences in scores were simply how many rounds people were able to complete.

Last week, some male athletes simply couldn’t get 165 pounds into a Squat Clean and Jerk. This week’s biggest challenges will fall in one of two categories; either 120 pounds for men (or 90 pounds for women) will be too heavy for some athletes to Overhead Squat 30 times, or they’ll get through them and get stuck on the Muscle-Ups.

The exciting part about involving such a challenging movement in this workout, though, is that there will be HUNDREDS of people out there who will get their first-EVER Muscle-Up during this workout! I hope that CFHQ puts together a video of all of the first MU’s caught on tape from this week’s workout 🙂

The video below is from HQ showing the official range of motion requirements for the movements.

GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!

The strength portion of tonight’s session featured the movement Sumo Deadlift. Not only did I see some people pull weight off of the ground safely and hit some PR’s, I also go to see CC do his thing. Look at this man pull 465lbs off of the ground and make it look easy!

After that we got right into the workout, which include jumping for the first time in a while. I’m really hoping that the weather stays nice, because being able to run outside regularly again is such a nice change of pace! I love summertime.

Workout of the Day:
Strength
Sumo Deadlift – 85% of 1RM – 1 Rep every minute for 15 minutes

WOD
4 Rounds for Time
400m Run / 20 Broad Jumps / 15 Pull-Ups

Athlete Results:
Sumo Deadlift
Jamie- 235lbs? (was it more?)
Alon- 175lbs (was WAYYY too easy, but form looked perfect)

WOD
Jamie (1-Banded Pull-Ups)-
Alon (4-Banded Pull-Ups)-

Well, today was day 2 of FREE CROSSFIT WEEK at CrossFit Lakewood, and it went even better than yesterday!! This evening there were 25 people in class… EIGHTEEN of which were non-members! Eighteen Newbies!!!

What does that look like? Well, throw in a beautiful day in terms of weather, a few warm-up exercises, and a lot of smiles… and it looks like this!

And then Ben S. leading 25 people through some Jumping Squats. I’d say he’s a natural leader!

The workout for today was a good one. It included quite a few shorter runs, kettlebell swings and either regular or handstand push-ups (depending on the athlete’s ability level). Here’s the crew all taking off at once for the first run lap! (thanks for not trampling me, Lion King style!…… too soon?)

Workout of the Day:
5 Rounds for Time
200m Run / 20 Kettlebell Swings / 200m Run / 20 Push-Ups (or 10 Handstand Push-Ups)

It was so cool to look around and see so many people swinging KB’s and doing push-ups. The sense of community and support you guys showed, and around people you had just met, was awesome!

For so many of you being “First-Time CrossFitters”, the form and technique work was AWESOME! Look at all of those full lock-outs at the top of the push-up!

Also, I’m proud to report that no one was hit with a rogue or flying kettlebell! That means the crew was organizing and respectful of the space around them. I mean, does it get ANY better than this? I’m not sure how, but I’m hoping to see if it does.

Now, to end the post with an feat of awesomeness, our very own Greg Walker (who has been featured on this blog quite a bit for just being cool) shows the world what it’s like to be good at Handstand Push-Ups. At the end of an almost 20-minute workout, the guy ends it with 10 unbroken HSPU’s! Pretty epic stuff… Well done, GW!

Tuesday night, Workout #3 of the 2011 CrossFit Games Open was released, and reactions are mixed in the CrossFit Community.

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 5 minutes of:
Squat clean (165lb / 75kg) / Jerk (165lb / 75kg)

One rep would basically just mean the athlete was able to Squat Clean the weight, but not lock it out overhead. This means that each “Round” is a successfully completed Squat Clean done any way (Squat Clean, Power Clean to Front Squat, etc) followed by a Jerk (Shoulder to Overhead, really). There will be a lot of people out there that at least start off with a Full Squat Clean Thruster.

Here’s our very own Greg Walker showing you all what a Squat Clean Thruster looks like. Keep in mind he weighs 152 pounds, but he’s throwing 165 pounds over his head like it’s nothing. WHAT A BEAST!!

IMPORTANT NOTE on Range of Motion and Judging:
At the top of the jerk movement, the barbell needs to be in line with the athlete’s HEELS. Make sure we’re not counting reps that are locked out in front of the toes!

Check out the video below from CrossFit clearly outlining the expectations for WOD 11.3.

Freddy Camacho at CrossFit One World is one of CrossFit’s original firebreathers! With his trademark tattoo sleeves, awesome personality and incredible shoulder strength, he can be picked out by most of us from a mile away.

After this week’s CrossFit Games Open Workout #2, there were some scores posted that literally blew minds away. I mean, people were absolutely floored. I don’t need to get into the little details of the workout since I’ve already posted what it was on my blog, and since Freddy covers it in the post, but he wrote EXACTLY the same thing that I’ve talked to most of you about in person over the last 5 days.

I am very curious as to what you guys think about this. Just like him, I’m not saying people are lying and that it’s impossible to score these numbers. What I AM saying, is that to do so is just short of super human work capacity and that I just want to see one of these performances and marvel at it’s greatness.

Here’s the full post, but I’ll paste a good chunk of it below, highlighting some of the points I’ve discussed with some of you. (Guys, he even tested the “Air Round” I said someone should do!)

Great stuff, Freddy! Let me know what you guys think, too.

*****From The Post – “SUPERHUMAN????” by Freddy Camacho*****

“At the time of this writing, there are six people (3 men/3 women) claiming 600+ reps for Workout #2 of the CrossFit Games Open. The workout is as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of 9 deadlifts (M:155#/W:100#)/12 push-ups with a hand raise at bottom/15 box jumps (M:24″/W:20″). Yes, you read that right…. 600 or more reps! For the purpose of this post, I will use an even 600 reps. To achieve 600 reps, a person would have to perform 16 rounds + 9 deadlifts + 12 push-ups + 3 box jumps…in 15 minutes!!!”

“Time for some math (YAY)!!! There are 900 seconds in 15 minutes. 900 seconds divided by 600 reps is 1.5 seconds per rep. At 1.5 seconds per rep, in order to complete 600 reps you would have to finish a round every 54 seconds without any rest or transition time.”

“Let’s say the transition time is on the low side at 34 seconds. That means the total seconds that you are actually completing 600 reps shrinks down to 1.4 seconds per rep. You are now completing a round every 50.4 seconds without any rest.”

“I did an “air round”: A simulated straight leg deadlift with no bar or stick, push-ups without raising my hands, and standing jumps with no box or tuck (about an 8″-10″ jump). I made sure I hit full range of motion on the “air deadlift” and the push-up. It took me 40 seconds to complete the round. That means to achieve 600 reps, I would only have 10.4 seconds of rest time, or what I call “wiggle room”, per round to maintain pace. And remember, that is with no weight, no hand raise, and no box.”

The Affiliate Team results are in after the second week of the 2011 CrossFit Games Open.*

Out of 68 Total Teams in our Region, Team CrossFit Lakewood is ranked 37th place! The way that the Team Competition works, is the top 30 teams from each Region make it on to the next round of competitions, which is called Regionals.

Currently, we’re only 13 points and 7 places away from 30th place, so that’s WELL within reach with 4 weeks still left to go!! Great job, everyone!

*The Website has had quite a a few issues so far, so any of this information MAY be incorrect, but as of now that’s what it shows.

*****CFLW MOMENT OF PRIDE*****
Our very own Megan Pendergraft is currently ranked 35th place in our Region after week #2. Yeah, Megan!!

A lot of people are losing their minds over the display issues that are occurring on the 2011 CrossFit Games Website (definitely not me, though…. I’m cool… not waiting at all… seriously…). In response to the high volume of concerns/complaints/comments, they have just released the following statement on the Games Website:

“Don’t worry if your submitted results aren’t showing on the Leaderboard.

If you have submitted and/or validated results for Workout 11.2, don’t worry if they are not showing on the Leaderboard. The Leaderboard still needs work, but our database has collected all of these submissions and validations. There is no need yet to email your results to our support staff.

Our IT team is fixing the Leaderboard and it will be functional soon. When the Leaderboard is fixed, it will reflect the most recent submissions and validations for Workout 11.2.

If you are having other problems with the site, please email support@crossfitgames.com.”